Wade's fourth-quarter outburst carries Heat past Cavs

Wade scored 24 of his season-high 41 points in the fourth
quarter as the Miami Heat rallied for a 92-89 triumph over the
Cleveland Cavaliers, who had LeBron James back in the lineup.

A three-time All-Star, Wade connected on 9-of-20 shots and made
23-of-24 free throws for his third 40-point performance of the
season. He also had five assists and four rebounds.

"My teammates kept me confident, especially GP (Gary Payton)
telling me to be more aggressive offensively," Wade said. "I
was getting to the paint, but I wasn't looking to score. I was
looking to pass. I knew it was a matter of time before I got
going."

It was the highest fourth-period output by a member of the Heat
since Wade scored 21 points during last season's 106-99 loss at
Cleveland on April 1, which was a franchise best.

"When someone has the ball as much as me, you're going to turn
the ball over," Wade said. "I just kept playing. You never
know which way it's going to turn. Fortunately, it turned out
good for me."

In the fourth quarter, James snapped a 78-78 tie when he
converted a three-point play and fouled out All-Star center
Shaquille O'Neal with 3:14 remaining.

James had missed Tuesday's win against Golden State because of a
sore right big toe. On Thursday, the 23-year-old finished with
17 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Wade answered with a jumper and two free throws to make it
82-81, but Cavaliers rookie Daniel Gibson drained a 3-pointer
from the left corner. Wade converted two more from the line
with 1:23 to go, tying the game once again at 84-84.

After James missed a pair of foul shots, Wade converted a
three-point play with 46 seconds remaining.

But James pulled Cleveland within 90-89 with a long shot from
the arc that bounced in with just three seconds left. Wade then
made two free throws to rebuild a three-point edge.

The Cavs had one last chance to tie the game, but James misfired
as time expired, handing Cleveland its eighth straight loss in
South Beach.

"We had a lot of chances. I take full responsibility for this
loss," James said. "I had a lot of chances to put us up two or
tie the game, and I didn't make a lot of plays for our team to
win down the stretch. As a leader, I didn't come through down
the stretch, so I definitely take full responsibility and I owe
my team one."

O'Neal had 16 points and eight rebounds in his first game after
missing two straight for the Heat, who shot 45 percent
(30-of-66) from the field.

"We just kept talking about getting stops," O'Neal said. "We
didn't have too great of an offensive night, so we just had to
get stops."

Gibson scored a season-high 19 points and Drew Gooden added 11
and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which led by as many as 12
points in the final quarter.

"I think it was a good game, an exciting game," Gooden said.
"We put up a fight and we played a lot better than we did that
last time we played in this building, when we lost by 30
points."